An armored vehicle is typically used to transport passengers through regions where a significant problem is land mines that can explode next to or underneath the vehicle. The passengers need to be accommodated in seats in which they can sit with some degree of comfort and which normally also can easily be moved out of the way in case the vehicle is being used to transport freight. In addition it is important that the use of the seat not increase the danger to the passenger, and even that it somewhat increase his or her protection.
It has been suggested, for example in EP 1,382,932, DE 4,303,701, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,829,702, and 3,868,143, to mount the seat so that it does not sit directly on the floor. Instead it is secured by straps or cables to the vehicle ceiling and to the floor. The advantage of this construction is that, during normal use, the seat is solidly held in place and functions much like a standard seat, but if a land mine explodes underneath the vehicle and blows up its floor, this upward movement of the floor is not transmitted directly to the seat. Instead the flexible connection to the floor merely goes slack and the floor is free to move upward somewhat.
The disadvantage of these systems is that, once the floor had been blown upward somewhat, the entire mounting assembly of the seat becomes ineffective. The seat is free to swing horizontally and, more importantly to move upward. Thus the explosion underneath the vehicle makes it possible for the seat to move upward toward the car roof, which is a highly undesired effect as it can lead to serious head injuries as the seat and its occupant slam into the roof.